The present invention concerns the separation of particles from a liquid.
It is known to effect separation of particles suspended in a liquid by magnetic filtration. In such magnetic filters the liquid is passed through a chamber containing a bed of particles of magnetisable material. An electromagnetic coil about the chamber is energised to magnetise the bed to thereby attract and retain the particles suspended in the liquid flow through the bed. After filtration, the trapped particles can be removed by isolating the electromagnetic coil and scavenging the chamber with a wash liquid whereby to agitate the bed and flush out the trapped particles.
The present invention seeks to provide a method and apparatus for filtering which enables the bed to be cleaned and flushed more quickly and with smaller quantities of wash liquid than hitherto.